In 1911 Norman and Beard rebuilt an earlier organ by J. C. Bishop, which itself was a rebuild of an earlier
organ by Samuel Green. Norman and Beard installed the organ with the Disc & Button Drawstop mechanism. This mechanism
was designed at the request of the blind organist Alfred Hollins. All the stops are in a row above the Swell keys and,
to blind organists the system enables it to be quicker to ascertain which stops are on or off. For a sighted organist it
has the advantage that all of the Drawstops are within the organist's view at any time. This system comprises a Drawstop
shaped, engraved Disc and, under it, a smaller Button. To draw the stop the Button is pushed in and to cancel the stop the
Disc is pushed in. Of the surviving instruments with this mechanism, Aylsham is now thought to be the largest.
Henry Willis & Sons have carried out a complete re-leathering of this organ together with cleaning and overhauling the pipework.
The Bellows have been re-leathered and the Soundboards have been overhauled in the factory.
The Case and Console before restoration
The organ is dismantled and stripped down
The Drawstop Pans have perished and patched leather
Ingress of water has caused the Pallets to come apart
The internal action motors are stripped and re-leathered
The restored action
is re-assembled
The Bellows are stripped and re-leathered
Pedal Coupler Machines
Due to ingress of water in the past
the Soundboards undergo factory
treatment and new slides are made and fitted
New Slides, lubricated with
Colloidal Graphite
The Piston Action is stripped down and it can also be seen
that mice have gnawed holes in the pneumatic lead tubing
The Disc & Button Drawstops are cleaned and re-blacked
The holes are re-bushed and the mechanism is re-assembled
The Piston mechanism is remade
The ribbed motors are re-leathered and re-fitted
The Drawstop and Piston mechanisms fully assembled
As viewed from below
The Pedalboard is overhauled and re-pieced
The restored organ is
re-instated in the church
